This invention relates to air fresheners, and in particular, to an air freshener carrying a plurality of scents, any one of which may be selected by a single action such as rotating or dialing.
Many people place air fresheners in a room to cover up odors in the room or just to add a fragrant scent to the air. Many air fresheners are commercially available. However, most of these provide for only one scent. Sometimes people want to change the scent introduced into a room. With commercially available air fresheners, the only way to do this is to purchase another air freshener having a different scent.
A few air fresheners which allow a user to selectively alter the scent delivered by the freshener have been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,023 to Smith discloses an air freshener having a plurality of shells which may be selectively opened and closed and which are positioned in front of a fan. Each shell carries numerous cells which contain fragrant compounds. Each shell has a different scent. The fan blows air through the cells of each shell causing the fragrant compound to evaporate and to be carried into the room. By opening and closing the various shells to varying degrees, the scent delivered by the air freshener can be altered.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,410,488 to Sugimura discloses an air freshener having a plurality of atomizing units. Each unit has a container of perfume which, when activated by an electrical signal, sprays its perfume through an atomizer and onto a strip of porous material. Each strip moves in front of its own fan which evaporates the perfume and carries it into the room. By changing the frequency of when the various perfume containers are activated, the scent created by the air freshener may be altered.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,608,436 to Baughman discloses a vaporizer having a plurality of vials of scented liquid positioned behind a fan. The vials can be selectively opened and a wick, which reaches into the liquid, can be extended to draw the liquid into the air flow. By selectively opening the vials, the scent which is delivered can be altered.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,103,609 to Bradburn discloses an air freshener having a body which carries a plurality of open topped vials of scented substances. A cover is rotatably mounted on the body to seal and close the vials. The cover has an opening which can be selectively brought into alignment with any one of the vials to open the vial, to allow the substance within the vial to evaporate and freshen the air.
All but the last mentioned patent are electrically operated and thus require a source of electricity. All have the disadvantage of being complicated and bulky. They are not easily moved nor can they be easily placed in a room out of view.